Anything like a personal bodycam exist?

[Colorama]

Does a gadget like this exist?

What I would really like is a bodycam that's always recording sound and video to a buffer, then when I notice something interesting, I can hit a button and save the previous 20 or 30 seconds for replay later. I hate it when I see or especially hear something but wasn't paying attention so I'd suddenly be thinking, "Wait, what did they say?" But the moment is gone, especially if it was on TV. This wouldn't be something like the old lifelogging cameras where they tried to automatically save a periodic photo during all waking hours. It would be just isolated snippets on demand.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

There use to be products call lifecam or some such thing that was about an inch and a quarter square that you attached to your shirt. I thought those would be great going through TSA. But they never seemed to take off.

 

[Colorama]

You're thinking of lifelogging cameras, which I mentioned and don't do what I'm asking for.

 

[dlerious]

I see a lot of people using a GoPro as a bodycam, but I'm unsure if it has the functionality you want.

 

[Colorama]

Thanks but it wouldn't. A GoPro can't run all day and won't automatically overwrite video snippets.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Thanks but it wouldn't. A GoPro can't run all day and won't automatically overwrite video snippets.

I am not sure there exists anything in the mobile variety that can run continuously without overheating or just plain outright failing. No traditional camcorder or DSLR can do this, no cell phone camera. How big of a battery pack are you going to be carrying to run a device non-stop 24x7? Also, your original description implies live is being overwritten until you do something to prevent it. Most dash cameras can record easily enough and overwrite, or not, depending on your desires, but they are not designed for 24x7 operation.

 

[Colorama]

GoPros and other actioncams can run without overheating for as long as the battery holds out. No reason they should overheat after a few more hours. The battery life is the big obstacle, but not insurmountable. Reduce video resolution to something reasonable like 720p to reduce necessary processing and thus power consumption. Audio doesn't use as much power. I've seen voice recorders than can run for five days nonstop on one charge. Running only sixteen hours in a day before being recharged overnight shouldn't be difficult. I don't know understand you think it needs to run 24 hours a day. Doesn't need to store all 16 hours either. It just needs to be a buffer for the last few minutes or even an hour. As for flash storage failing from too many writes, that can be easily circumvented by using an SD card rather than built-in storage, so it can be replaced or upgraded as necessary.

But I guess I got my answer. There's no device like this for now. Wish someone would do a Kickstarter for one. Who couldn't use a little boost to their short-term memory?

 

[UsandThem]

Wish someone would do a Kickstarter for one. Who couldn't use a little boost to their short-term memory?

I agree. There's probably at least 5 other people out there who wants what they look at, and what they hear to constantly be recorded/buffered for possible retrieval. 😉

 

[Colorama]

I guess nobody ever uses the 10 or 15-second replay function on DVRs and streaming services, right?

 

[UsandThem]

I guess nobody ever uses the 10 or 15-second replay function on DVRs and streaming services, right?

Uh, no.

Skipping back a bit while watching a movie/show is one thing. The 24/7 recording everything a person encounters in life, with the sole reason being they might want to review it again, is a whole different thing. I'm sure there is someone else out there who wants to livestream their entire life to themselves, but it's not going to be many. Maybe if you're like Drew Barrymore's character in the move '50 First Dates', then I could understand the need to do something like that. 😉

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Even with a continuous overwrite condition of leaving maybe the last hour's worth of video available for review, the power requirements and potential overheating issue alone make it not very easy to solve. Not even LEO bodycams can do that.

 

[Colorama]

Uh, no.

Skipping back a bit while watching a movie/show is one thing. The 24/7 recording everything a person encounters in life, with the sole reason being they might want to review it again, is a whole different thing. I'm sure there is someone else out there who wants to livestream their entire life to themselves, but it's not going to be many. Maybe if you're like Drew Barrymore's character in the move '50 First Dates', then I could understand the need to do something like that. 😉

You are arguing without understanding it. It's not for livestreaming your whole life. It's not for livestreaming at all. It's for quickly recalling something you might have just missed. It doesn't need all-day capacity, just for a few snippets, enough for a few minutes a day. Not even necessarily for permanent storage. You don't need all day any more than you'd need to record a whole day on your DVR just to rewind those few seconds you just missed. For instance, you've never had a moment where you're watching live TV and suddenly think, "I liked that last commercial," but it's too late to record it because you weren't recording. Or more like the old days when they had those pre-infomercial 30-second commercials where they're selling a product and throw an entire address or phone number at you for ordering in the last five seconds of the spot, like you're supposed to get it all down in that time. If you can pay 100% attention to everything around you, never miss so much as a single thing and can recall every detail of the last minute, bully for you. But most of the human race doesn't have that kind of memory.

Even with a continuous overwrite condition of leaving maybe the last hour's worth of video available for review, the power requirements and potential overheating issue alone make it not very easy to solve. Not even LEO bodycams can do that.

Most people have no problem with actioncams like GoPros overheating. I've had a Panasonic and Chinese action cams run for hours at a time without overheating. Especially since this would not need 4k/60fps video. 720p at 10fps might be sufficient. Less processor overhead means less power consumption, meaning less heat and longer battery life.

Where did I ask for an hour of video? Where are you getting this from? I asked for 30 seconds. You guys just seem to be making things up to come up with objections.

I'm gone. I thought Anandtech was supposed to be a reasonable forum, but it seems people just want to be argumentative.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

We are reasonable. But given what we know what you are asking for wasn't found by you or anyone else on this forum. That's unreasonable? Sorry if we didn't have the magic ticket for you but sometimes that's life.

 

[sandorski]

This is what the Future is gonna be like. Ugh....I'm torn.

 

[UsandThem]

I'm gone. I thought Anandtech was supposed to be a reasonable forum, but it seems people just want to be argumentative.

You are taking things WAY too seriously.

You asked if a product exists for what you want to do. Several users here have offered suggestions for products that mostly would do what you want to do, but you don't like those ideas. The product you exactly want does not exist. You seem to want such an item and think it would be something a lot of people would want. I simply said I don't agree with that assessment.

Just because someone doesn't agree with you, that does not make the interaction "argumentative". If you took offense to what was said in this thread, don't let the door hit you on the way out. 😎